Holiday Spending: How to Earn Cash Right Now With What’s In Your House

— -- Christi and Jeremy Mulder have five children under eight, so for them, the gift of giving can come with a hefty price tag.

The Mulders say they spent about $1,000 last year so their children could have a happy Christmas morning, but it turns out there could be hidden cash right in their home.

Enter Lauren Greutman, a money saving expert. Greutman showed the Mulders how to find objects in their own home that they could sell to earn money for Christmas shopping.

Here are some things that can earn you money, according to Greutman:

Old toys and clothes. Greutman said people will get the most money for timeless toys, such as Ninja Turtles, Barbies, My Little Pony and electronics.

Using the website Swap.com, the Mulders filled two boxes with toys in good condition and clothes that are in season. The company pays for shipping. Once the boxes arrive at the warehouse they’ll be put up for sale on the website. On average, sellers earn about $150 per box.

Bonus points: Save the boxes in which your toys were sold, as those can be worth cash. An American Girl doll box can fetch as much as $30 on eBay.

Electronics. Even broken ones can be worth something on websites such as Kiiboo.com. Just box up your old items and send it to Kiiboo’s California office where staffers will inspect, price and post your electronics. Two smartphones and an Apple AirPort Express are expected to fetch the Mulders about $100.

Old books. Yes, even old books can be worth money. Using the Amazon seller app, Christ scans her books’ barcodes to find out how much they’re worth. Then she sets the price before sending them off to Amazon, which will sell them. She earns $196.

In total, the Mulders found $656 worth of items in their home.

Asked how that would affect their Christmas this year, Jeremy replied: “Well it’s going to help out a lot.”

“Maybe we'll make sure we get gifts for each other this year,” Christi said, laughing.